[Shreyas Aterkar]

Originally Posted by Shreyas Aterkar

will try it out in the car and will try the FM transmitter as well and post feedback about sound clarity.

Hi, its been almost 2 months since I received this device. Its very good. Totally worth the money spent. Had posted a bried review about it earlier thought of sharing the experience till now:

1. Very good stand by time, I recharged the device after 45 days, I did not use it very frequently but it wasn't just a stand by device for me all the time, so good battery life

2. Voice commands and voice interaction - voice commands like answer, ignore, redial and callback work very well. Battery has not worked for me till date. Sometimes the device calls out the name of the caller sometimes the number, don't know why this inconsistency. When it reads out the number, you cannot pick up the call by saying "Answer" before it completes announcing the number. You can either pick up the call by pressing the answer button on the device or your cell phone.

3. Sound quality - outstanding. Volume control actually uses the volume control on your device so if the volume on your device is set at maximum, the sound from the device is loudest and then you need to reduce it. Music streaming is also very good. Loved this feature.

4. FM transmitter - Not the best but still does its job with an above average rating. Its very easy to tune in to the car speakers. The sound quality is decent. Music streaming is not outstanding but nevertheless serves its purpose with slight disturbance. Default frequency set is 88.1 MHZ, haven't tried adjusting this to see if the voice quality improves.

5. Music streaming - seamless, loved it especially when your car does not have a USD or an SD card and ipod's battery has died down (:-)). The only issue, music controls cannot be used with the device or car audio system, for these the phone has to be used.

5. Product quality - very good quality, very good looking and compact.

6. Overall experience - Excellent, very convenient device to have. I felt that if you travel alone its the best thing to buy, but with car pooling on these days, the usage comes down a bit. Here I thought if they could have provided a detachable bluetooth headset and then it would have been a complete device for me.

Hope this has been useful.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Sharias Aterkar

Hi, its been almost 2 months since I received this device. Its very good. Totally worth the money spent. Had posted a bried review about it earlier thought of sharing the experience till now:
. Here I thought if they could have provided a detachable bluetooth headset and then it would have been a complete device for me.

Hope this has been useful.

Absolutely useful thank you!
I want one of these but like you said it would be great if they could give us a detachable bluetooth headset/ear piece as well!

There is one such machine I saw in Top Gear December edition. I think it was Blaupunkt BT something or other.

But when one tries to get to their website in the hope of buying, it takes one to the European one and there is no info about availability in India.

[ACS]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Picked up the Jabra Freeway Handsfree Car Kit (Jabra) two days ago from Infibeam.com (Jabra JBRA2018 0GB Price India, Jabra JBRA2018 Review, Jabra Accessories India - Infibeam.com).

Thanks SST!
I have been looking for a similar product and ended up with Freeway. After reviewing your experience this product looks pretty awesome. Could you please let me know your feedback(In our language "a long term ownership review!" )? Also it will be of great help if you can point out some better products. Thanks in advance.

ACS

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by ACS

Could you please let me know your feedback(In our language "a long term ownership review!" )? Also it will be of great help if you can point out some better products.

Long-term, the unit has held up perfectly. It stays in the car through heat and cold, and hasn't shown any issues except one - if I have 2 phones connected, and the second phone loses network (it's an old Asus Windows 6 phone running an MTNL SIM, and network for MTNL / BSNL is erratic in/around Delhi), the device tends to restart without warning about shutting down. When I connect another second phone, this issue isn't there - so I suspect it has either to do with loss of network, or the particular phone itself, and not a fault of the Jabra.

I got around the Freeway's inability to understand the "Battery" command by modifying the tone to a Hindi-ized "bHaat-teri" , and the machine now understands me perfectly. I keep forgetting when I charged it last, and charge only when it starts beeping during calls that the battery is low - Lasts at least a month if not more, including calls and standby.

Also like the way the Jabra amplifies the GPS commands from my phone's Sygic. The phone's loudspeaker is not as loud as I'd like.

[ACS]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Long-term, the unit has held up perfectly. It stays in the car through heat and cold, and hasn't shown any issues except one - if I have 2 phones connected, and the second phone loses network (it's an old Asus Windows 6 phone running an MTNL SIM, and network for MTNL / BSNL is erratic in/around Delhi), the device tends to restart without warning about shutting down. When I connect another second phone, this issue isn't there - so I suspect it has either to do with loss of network, or the particular phone itself, and not a fault of the Jabra.

Thanks again SST!

This is what I am looking for and happy that the product's endurance is very high. Hopefully I will buy a piece in this weekend. By the way I asked the availability in Imagine Store(Apple) but they don't have Jabra instead they are recommending Plantronics. Also I visited a few shops here in Bangalore, but Jabra isn't available anywhere. I guess I need shop online and get it.

[ACS]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Well the HSR store had it last week.

I have been to the HSR Layout Sangeetha(27th Main)today and they informed that they never had Jabra products. Are you sure you spotted this at HSR Sangeetha?

Instead they showed me Supertooth Buddy Bluetooth set which costs INR 5500/-. Looks smaller and the built was not up to the mark. I discarded it as I was behind Jabra Freeway!

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by ACS

I have been to the HSR Layout Sangeetha(27th Main)today and they informed that they never had Jabra products. Are you sure you spotted this at HSR Sangeetha?

Instead they showed me Supertooth Buddy Bluetooth set which costs INR 5500/-. Looks smaller and the built was not up to the mark. I discarded it as I was behind Jabra Freeway!

Could be mistaken but I generally have a good memory. Finally FYI I went and bought a Blaupunkt Drive Free 311 from The Mobile Store's ECom site.
It works brilliantly for my needs.

[ACS]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Long-term, the unit has held up perfectly. It stays in the car through heat and cold, and hasn't shown any issues except one - if I have 2 phones connected, and the second phone loses network (it's an old Asus Windows 6 phone running an MTNL SIM, and network for MTNL / BSNL is erratic in/around Delhi), the device tends to restart without warning about shutting down. When I connect another second phone, this issue isn't there - so I suspect it has either to do with loss of network, or the particular phone itself, and not a fault of the Jabra.

SST, after considering many products like Parrot, Blaupunkt, Supertooth and Plantronics, I have shortlisted Jabra Freeway. I guess I have done a very good R&D since a few days. And from my viewpoints, Jabra came up to the front in all aspects. Also Freeway is worth in every penny in it as per the reviews I went through. I have placed my order and keep you all updated with my first review. Thanks.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Could be mistaken but I generally have a good memory. Finally FYI I went and bought a Blaupunkt Drive Free 311 from The Mobile Store's ECom site.
It works brilliantly for my needs.

Might be. Good to hear that Blaupunkt works very well for you.
As I told above, I found my cell's mate in Jabra Freeway. I guess Chroma is the only retailer who has Jabra products 'ready to sell'. I am waiting for the product to come. Cheers!

[Schoudhury]

Originally Posted by ACS

I guess Chroma is the only retailer who has Jabra products 'ready to sell'. I am waiting for the product to come. Cheers!

Why don't you try to get it from ebay from any power seller ?
May be from here
http://www.ebay.in/itm/Jabra-Freeway...#ht_2107wt_906

Im not sure , what prices chrome is selling the same .

Cheers

[ACS]

Originally Posted by Schoudhury

Why don't you try to get it from ebay from any power seller ?
May be from here
http://www.ebay.in/itm/Jabra-Freeway...#ht_2107wt_906

Im not sure , what prices chrome is selling the same .

Cheers

I had been to Chroma, Koramangala Star Bazaar today . They are quoting Rs. 6749/- , around Rs 40/- higher than the ebay power seller. However I have placed the order at Naaptol where the asking price is Rs. 6426/-. I have had a very good experience with Naaptol. Lets wait and see!!

[phamilyman]

by the way, at 6500 bucks, the latest single din pioneer bluetooth HU is a far better value for people looking to install a new headunit as well. The voice quality of that thing is quite nice as well

[ACS]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

by the way, at 6500 bucks, the latest single din pioneer bluetooth HU is a far better value for people looking to install a new headunit as well. The voice quality of that thing is quite nice as well

Good thought!! Heard of this product and the reviews are good enough. However my ride is SX4 and it comes with stock unit of Nippon. Needless to say I am happy with Nippon's performance. So hard to think of any alternatives. Cheers!

[Shreyas Aterkar]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Could be mistaken but I generally have a good memory. Finally FYI I went and bought a Blaupunkt Drive Free 311 from The Mobile Store's ECom site.
It works brilliantly for my needs.

This is the same that also has a detachable bluetooth right? And I think this retails for around 4k or less. If its the same, I saw it at one of the accessories shop. Could you post some more details about its features etc and a pic would be great. Thanks!

@ACS - Jabra freeway is a very good product. I have been using it since last 4 months now. Its very well built, looks premium. All the functionality is good and useful. Battery lasts really very long, more than a month for me. The only issue that I see with this is a lack of detachable bluetooth, so if you are with some people in the car and you want them not to listen to what the caller is saying, jabra wont do it for you. That is where this new Blaupunkt device comes in. However, it purely depends upon your need.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

by the way, at 6500 bucks, the latest single din pioneer bluetooth HU is a far better value for people looking to install a new headunit as well. The voice quality of that thing is quite nice as well

Actually you're absolutely right. That was my thought process in the beginning. But then, I figured that it would work out to twice the price if I wanted the feature in both cars. And it's lately doing great for the occasional concall at my desk too.

[ACS]

I got my Jabra Freeway on last Saturday. The good thing is that I had been to native and came back on Monday with Freeway fitted in my SX4. I am posting a quick review/feedback based of my last trip (to and fro of 900KM). I completely agree with the other reviews posted here by my fellow BHPians. I would like to point out what I felt about the device.

Design and Built: As many of us think the built is awesome and the flat design is very much suitable to any sun visors. The buttons which are not projected give a sophisticated feel.

Sound: Hats off to Jabra engineers for the amazing sound quality and microphone ability to pick up sound from any corner of the cars. I checked this by making my family members to sit in the rear seats, even they can speak and the other party doesn't feel any interference.

Voice Interaction: To my surprise this is working perfectly for me. I didn't try all the commands but normally used commands like Call “contact”, Redial, answer, ignore. But it would be better if we can change the accent. I don’t think the stock accent is US/UK English. Could someone help on this please?

Streaming via Bluetooth: Superb, the surround system is simply awesome. We can’t imagine the sound is coming from a tiny device like this.

FM Transmitter: It’s just working. Do not expect the quality as some other FM frequency may interfere with the connected frequency. Need to R&D more.

Battery backup: Not in a position to tell as I got the device only 3 days back. However it got fully charged in 2 hours.

Advantage me! : The device uses the same charger that of my Samsung S2. So I need to carry only one car charger with me all the time. Enjoy Samsung users!

For a first ‘hands free’ user like me, Freeway is a heaven. You may feel costly at 6.5K but believe me it’s worth every penny of it. I agree that it doesn't have any detachable headset like some other products available in the market. But rather I feel this is good and I am not comfortable for the ear piece system.
I will post my long term review after few weeks of usage. Thank you all for making me aware of this product and for the reason why I chose Freeway. Cheers!